Spiritual passion – Wisdom From the Word

A Hearing Heart

As we conclude this year and prepare for the next, I thought it would be helpful to provide an area of focus given the transition to a new year is often a time of reflection for us. To that end we will look at the need to hear both Jesus’ voice and His heart and look at how our hearing requires a particular posture of our own hearts. We begin with a verse that is dear to me.

¹ The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:1 (NKJV)

Most translations have the word ‘plan’ rather than ‘preparations.’ Yet the Hebrew word means to arrange or set up, thus I think preparations is the better translation. Imagine inviting someone over for dinner. My wife prioritizes having everything ready before guests arrive, which means I need to have the same focus. So, there is a plan for the meal but most of the work is preparing more than planning. The table is set, the house is cleaned, and the food is ready, everything is prepared.

In the same way, Proverbs tells us that we need to prepare our hearts, get them ready for fellowship with Jesus. I recognize that we can pray at any time and place. The day before I wrote this I went for a walk with a friend. Afterward we stood on the edge of the parking lot with hands clasped and my hand on his shoulder and we prayed as people drove by. I thought, if someone asked what we were doing I would say, “We are praying,” as in, it should be obvious and normal, though it presently isn’t in our culture.

While acknowledging that we can pray at any time and place, there are times of prayer, our meetings with the Father, that require a different approach – preparation. That preparation may include the time we set aside, the place where we meet with Him, and very importantly in our culture, the distractions we avoid. Like much of our culture, I am prone to the distractions of social media. I know that if I want to sit with Jesus and hear His voice and heart, I need to deliberately set aside the things that can draw my heart away. In short, I need to obey the scriptural injunction and prepare my heart.

While preparation is important in terms of space and distractions, another aspect is hiding His word in our hearts so that when we need to hear from Him the Spirit can bring to mind and highlight scriptures that we know. David put it this way.

¹¹ Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11 (NKJV)

We hide His word in our hearts by reading and meditating on His word and His character (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1-13, Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 4:8).

An example for me that I seek to integrate into all that I do is a verse from Psalms that I meditate on, reading and reflecting on it pretty much daily.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 NKJV

Following David is a difficult task, and I find applying the first part of this verse much easier than the second. My words are generally just fine, my thoughts, not always the case. David began this Psalm extolling the grandeur of creation and then moved on to the immeasurable greatness of the Law before focusing in on how to walk uprightly before Him. Here is more context.

¹² Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. ¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. ¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:12–14 (NKJV)

David is saying that if the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts are focused on Yahweh we will be kept from presumptuous sins and not engage in any great transgression. For me the additional part is that I will hear His heart. Paul presented this quite clearly in Galatians. He gave two lists of what we could choose to meditate on and then pointed out that we will reap from the field in which we choose to sow.

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:19–23 (NKJV)

⁷ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. ⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:7–9 (NKJV)

In conclusion, to hear His heart we need to prepare our hearts to hear and receive. That requires intentionality on our part, which includes setting aside undistracted times, hiding His word in our hearts, and cultivating an awareness of His presence in our hearts and minds throughout each day. This creates a prepared and properly postured heart.

A Note – In January I will present some apologetics material and anchor it in scripture. I present this to provide you with tools to defend our faith in a culture increasingly hostile to it and derisive of it. If there is a particular topic you would like covered, please comment and I will have a look and see if it is an area I have material on or can research.

Encounters

Encounters with the Living God can change us. Salvation, the new birth, is an encounter, an event that initiates a process. As we then walk with Jesus we should be growing and reflecting more of His character. Paul describes this ongoing process as Christ being formed in us (Galatians 4:19) and it is seen in his teaching around the works of the flesh in contrast to the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-26) and the sowing and reaping principle he presents (Galatians 6:7-10). The ongoing process of spiritual growth is built on daily faithfulness. Isaiah described is as ‘precept upon precept, line upon line (Isaiah 28:10).

In a faithful daily walk there are also moments or opportunities of encounter. There is an expression, ‘Character isn’t formed in crisis it is revealed.’ What we have daily sown into our lives is what will be revealed when we encounter a significant challenge. We see an example in the life of Isaiah in chapter 6, in particular, verse 3-7.

³ And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” ⁴ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” Isaiah 6:3–7 (NKJV)

Prior to this encounter, Isaiah had been prophesying judgement during the reign of Uzziah. After Uzziah died Isaiah saw Yahweh on the throne (John informs us this was Jesus – (John 12:37-41) and essentially said, ‘Oh no! I’m also in trouble!’ Isaiah shifted from pronouncing judgment on others to pronouncing it on himself.

When Isaiah saw Yahweh/Jesus on the throne he acknowledged that he was in need of cleansing. Then one of the seraphim flew to Isaiah with a live coal and when it touched his lips (Isaiah had been using his voice to pronounce judgment) said his inequity and sin were removed. As an aside, if you have an image of a cute cherubic figure in mind, banish that. Seraphim literally means ‘burning ones.’ These fiery creatures burned with holiness and zeal for Yahweh and His glory. Cherubim in scripture are similar, guardians of sacred space who protected Eden after Adam and Eve were banished and guard the ark of the covenant.

Now back to Isaiah’s encounter. The fruit of the encounter was a prophetic ministry that spanned decades (I once calculated it at 55 years, scholarly speculation varies from 40-60 years). It led to Isaiah prophesying Jesus’ birth, the restoration of the nation, the crucifixion and a number of other significant events with Isaiah being known as the ‘prince of prophets.’

Now the key here is not that Isaiah had an encounter, it is his response. I have sought to be faithful in my daily walk but I have also had encounters with His presence. I don’t claim anything like Isaiah’s experience, yet I once had an encounter where it felt like the Spirit unveiled eternity to me. It was a brief frightening experience that was only resolved in my heart and mind a couple of decades later. I trust that I responded correctly but don’t fully know. I do know that encounters with His presence are opportunities. Thus, I suggest, let’s daily walk with Him, seek His face and be prepared for encounters that drive our walk deeper.

PS – do you have something to share from your walk with Jesus?

With Thanksgiving

A note to start. I don’t write my posts in advance. I generally compose them during the week and do my final edits in the morning before I post them. However, I had been working on a post for awhile and set it aside and planned to complete it for this week. However, last Sunday I was reading the following passage and the phrase the Spirit impressed upon my heart was “with thanksgiving.” It never occurred to me at that time that I was writing and this post that I was preparing it for the time of our Canadian Thanksgiving. For me that means this Thanksgiving is significant to the Lord. Now back to scripture.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. ⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4–7 (NKJV)

For me personally not being anxious and praying are easy things to walk out. Where I need to grow is in thanksgiving. Verse 6 basically says that we are to let our needs be known to the Father, but in the process we are to include thanksgiving. The reason for that is what we will now look at.

There are a couple of things to reflect on. The first is that thanksgiving changes us not God. It brings our hearts to a place of rest in Him. In fact, that is Paul’s main point, when we bathe our prayer needs in thanksgiving His peace will guard our hearts and minds. Interestingly Paul says nothing about answers to our prayers, his focus is on the effect that pairing thanksgiving with our prayers makes. Now it is easy to say that but it is helpful to know how it works.

I remember lines from a childhood church song. “Count your many blessings, name them one by one and it will surprise you what God has done.” The whole refrain is below, published by Johnson Oatman Jr. in 1897.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

This is another part of pairing thanksgiving and prayer, a recounting of our blessings.

Practically here are some simple examples.

Father;

I thank You that You have given me life and breath,
I thank You for access to Your word and freedom to worship You in spirit and truth in this land where I live,
I thank You that You supply all my needs according to Your riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:10),
I thank You that you have placed X and Y in my life.

Obviously, you can generate your own list. I simply know from both scripture and experience that when thanksgiving is part of our prayer life our perspective shifts and hearts come to a place of rest in Him. We are then left confidently expecting Him to do what is best for our lives in our service of Him.

As a closing note, the theme of Philippians is rejoicing and thanksgiving, something Paul practiced and taught. Philippians is one of Paul’s prison letters and I am sure as he wrote from prison in Rome he reflected back on his prison experience in Philippi, where we see that after he and Silas had been beaten and put in stocks they were praying and worshipping in the prison (Acts 16:25). Let’s emulate his heart and as another song says, “Give thanks with a grateful heart.”

What a Waste

What a waste! How many times have you heard the expression? Usually uttered to highlight how an individual has misused their life, talents, finances or similar. It carries the connotation of bad decisions, which I am confident we have all made at some point in our lives. I know when I was coaching sports I would at times have a gifted athlete without a commensurate work ethic. It brought this expression to mind. Yet, in the broader context I wonder if ‘waste’ depends on our perspective.

Let me share some examples. We begin with Eric Liddell. From a cultural perspective he wasted his life. One hundred years ago at the Paris Olympics ago he refused to run the 100 M, his best race, because the heats took place on Sunday and he wasn’t going to compete on the Lord’s Day. He instead ran the 400 M and won Olympic gold. The beginning of a storied athletic career? No. In 1925 he returned to China where he had been born to missionary parents. Eric went as a missionary; he died there in 1945 in a Japanese internment camp. Popular culture may have viewed his life as wasted; heaven keeps a different accounting.

The 1981 movie Chariots of Fire chronicles the events surrounding the Olympics. I saw the film around the time it came out. I wasn’t walking the Lord at the time but a line from the film was deeply impressed upon me. In the movie his sister was critical of his running and asked if he should be running or devoting his life to God. Eric responded with the now famous quote, “God made me for a purpose. God made me fast and when I run I feel His pleasure.” In researching it there is debate about whether the line from the movie is an actual quote from Liddell but he certainly embodied it. The scene is not true as his sister was a child on the mission field in China with their parents and when Eric won at the Olympics they didn’t know for months until they received a letter. What is known of Liddell is that he did say a less famous quote, “God made me for China.”

Now to a couple of scriptural examples, Mary and Judas, beginning with Judas, one of the twelve.

¹ And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Matthew 10:1 (NKJV)

Judas was given the same power as the rest, the word here is actually exousia, generally translated as authority, which is how the ESV translates it. Nothing in scriptures suggests that Judas failed to walk in these same demonstrations of power and authority as the rest of the twelve. Even so, he didn’t end well. Judas betrayed Jesus (Matthew 26) and was so embittered that the doorway to his heart was open and Satan entered him.

³ Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. ⁴ So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. Luke 22:3–4 (NKJV)

Judas eventually took his own life (Matthew 27:5). What a waste.

As an addition there are two other things about Judas that speak not to Judas but to Jesus’ character. We see them in the verses below.

⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. John 6:64 (NKJV)

¹² While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. John 17:12 (NKJV)

Jesus knew from the beginning that Judas would betray Him and would be revealed as the ‘son of perdition’ yet still invested in Judas. A waste from the perspective of some, to others a revelation of Jesus heart to invest and give expecting nothing in return.

Now to Mary. I have written before how I am convinced that Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene are the same person (see the link below to a previous blog post). I am not the first one to draw this conclusion from a study of the scriptures as I have researched it in the past and others have come to the same conclusion at various times in church history.

Given that Mary was an immoral woman and tormented by seven demons (Luke 7:36-8:2) the early part of her life was wasted, in a worldly way. The latter part of her life was very different. The story of her love for Jesus and willing to waste all on Him is well known (John 12:1-8). The question before us is best summarized by something I heard Jack Deere say in a sermon many years ago, he spoke about Mary and said something like, “We will all waste our lives on something. Why not Jesus?” http://wisdomfromtheword.ca/intimacy-opportunities-part-2/

Where are You Staying? Part 1

The title comes from a question that was asked of Jesus at the beginning of His earthly ministry. Here John the Baptist is pointing his disciples to Jesus.

³⁶ And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). ⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. John 1:36–40 (NKJV)

Here two disciples of John the Baptist leave John to follow Jesus, and Andrew, who became one of the twelve apostles, recognizes right off that Jesus is the Messiah they have been seeking. Their key question was about where Jesus was staying as clearly that is where they wanted to be. Once they found out where Jesus was staying, they remained with Him.

Having presented the context I am going to make an application that isn’t obvious from the text. To get there we will go post resurrection to Paul. First however, we need to understand, these two disciples of John the Baptist recognized two things. They knew they needed to leave John and they knew they needed to be where Jesus was. Now on to Paul as He tells us where Jesus is now staying.

¹ If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1–4 (NKJV)

Jesus is now staying in the heavenly realm and Paul informs us that we need to be there as well. More accurately, Paul says we are there, our ‘life is hidden with Christ in God.’ We are in Him. Paul, knowing the importance of this spiritual reality tells us that we need focus and set our minds ‘on things above.’ The Greek word translated as mind is phroneo, it means to think and is connected to our attitudes, intentions and purposes. The KJV translated phroneo as affections. While I prefer a more modern rendering in most cases, here the KJV captures something. We need to have an affection, a desire, set on our life that is hidden in Jesus.

In summary, we need to both want to know where Jesus is staying and we need our desires set there.

Next week we will delve into how to practically apply this idea.

Seeing His Heart

One of the places I have been reading is Ezekiel. I assume that most of us would not read chapter 16 and find great encouragement in it. Here we have Yahweh labeling Jerusalem, more specifically the inhabitants, in some very unflattering ways. In fact, the descriptions of pending judgement and the reasons for it are more than unflattering, they describe a perverse and rebellious group of people, a people who have despised and rejected love and mercy. What is most interesting is how the chapter ends.

⁶² “And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, ⁶³ that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an atonement for all you have done,” says the Lord God.’” Ezekiel 16:62–63 (NKJV)

In spite of all of their sin and rebellion, Yahweh affirms that as part of establishing His covenant He will provide atonement for them. What this really tells us is about His heart! Many view the Old Testament (OT) as Law and the New Testament (NT) as grace, as we see in John.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:14, 17 (NKJV)

Jesus embodied grace and truth in His incarnation. However, that doesn’t mean it was absent in the OT era. The purpose of the Law was to bring us to Jesus.

²¹ Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. ²² But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. ²³ But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. ²⁴ Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:21–24 (NKJV)

While we clearly have the Law in the OT. Paul tells us why it came about.

¹⁹ What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Galatians 3:19 (NKJV)

The original plan was relationship, and after the fall in Genesis 3 when we read further, we still see the pattern of Yahweh seeking relationship. The pattern is there with Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and continues. He always wants obedience, but His desire is that it would flow from a heart of love not a fear of punishment. Hence the ending of Ezekiel 16.

While we clearly see grace and truth in the NT, when we look closely, we see it in the OT as well. The bottom line – Yahweh is always seeking to draw us into relationship and to have us draw on His atoning grace. That is His heart.

In His Image Part 2

In my last post I referenced being made in His image as Yahweh’s image bearers and I referenced capacity. That is what I want to focus on here – capacity. We are told the following in scripture.

³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37–40 (NKJV)

Here Jesus is quoting from a combination of Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 and telling us what we are called to do with the capacity we have been given.

⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5 (NKJV)

¹⁸ You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18 (NKJV)

Jesus’ instruction here is wholistic and not a new command for His hearers. They were familiar with the exhortation, as I am sure we are as well. We too have a responsibility and calling to love Yahweh with all of our being. Sadly, one of the neglected aspects in the broader evangelical church is the mind. We can be passionate about worship, that is enjoyable. We can express love with our body in activities like worship and service. We exercise our will in these activities. Yet we are also called to love Him with our mind.

Loving Yahweh with our mind is something that Paul stressed and said that as believers it is key in our spiritual growth and development.

¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1–2 (NKJV)

¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

A note here for those of you who may be inclined to do some research, the Greek words for mind in Matthew 22 and Romans 12 are not the same word, (dianoia and nous respectively), as Matthew and Paul were different writers, dianoia and nous are however synonyms and both refer to our mind, understanding or disposition. Now back to what Paul is teaching us. We are to present our bodies, our physical faculties and attributes to God. I provided two translations for the following reason. While ‘reasonable service’ in the NKJV is the more literal rendering, many translators believe the intended meaning is what we have in the ESV, ‘spiritual worship.’ Putting the two ideas together, Paul is saying here that presenting our bodies simply makes sense as an act of worship. He then informs us that the use of our body will undergo a transformation when our mind is renewed.

Paul’s idea of the importance of our minds is not new. In the Old Testament we have Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes referred to as ‘wisdom literature.’ There are many exhortations to thinking throughout scripture and if we never had people who valued the use of their minds in the service of God, we would not have a bible or the scholarly work on the original languages and the resulting translations we have today.

We can thus conclude that not only are our mental capacities a gift from Yahweh, He wants us to use them in His service. This means understanding His word, understanding what the gospel message is and how to present it. It means being willing to think deeply about important spiritual and cultural matters. This is particularly relevant when our present culture tends to elevate feeling over thinking in engaging in many types of ‘unreasonable service’ in the things they worship. Which is not what we as the church should be either modeling or following.

To take the place God has designed for us in our culture we need to use our minds to glorify Him in our words and actions. He wants us to represent, or re-present, Him well and that includes accepting our responsibility as image bearers to use our intellectual capacity well in the furtherance of His kingdom and for His glory, whatever our vocation and calling in life.

A final note. My purpose here is encouragement not guilt. As I pointed out at the beginning, He wants each of us to use our minds based on the capacity He has given us. For me that means constantly reading and researching and seeking to understand theological and spiritual truth. For others it may mean meditating on a particular verse or passage of scripture for an extended period of time. We are not all called to teach, we are all called to learn.

How Worldviews Shift – Part 3

In my last post I noted that I would look at the process in personally shifting our worldviews. While Peter’s worldview shift required a dramatic intervention, as did Paul’s initial change, his ‘Road to Damascus’ experience, they needn’t be that dramatic or intense. Paul and Peter’s were thrust upon them. I suggest we embrace the option of choosing ours and here I lay out how.

As I highlighted in my worldview book, our tendency is to ‘think with rather than about our worldview.’ Essentially, ‘we don’t know what we don’t know.’ While that is obvious, moving beyond it requires intention and effort on our part. I am going to go a bit deeper than we usually do in normal discourse to highlight this issue. Presently in our Western culture there is a tendency to highlight feelings over facts. The absurdity of this can be seen in the sadly popular idea of ‘speaking our truth.’ Truth is something that coheres with reality but we have undergone a cultural shift where many have relabelled their experiences and perspectives as ‘truth.’ The precursor to this was the idea ‘that may be true for you but it’s not true for me.’ Perspectives have been labeled truth, which is a falsehood. We may believe a falsehood to be true but that won’t magically make it so.

In the cultural quagmire that we find ourselves in it can be difficult to discern the right road and recognize the impact our culture has on shaping our worldview. To engage in thinking about our worldview we begin looking at the ideas of presuppositions and plausibility structures. Presuppositions are part of our worldview, ideas that we hold to be true. Plausibility structures are ideas we hold about what is possible or probable. Here are scriptural examples of both presuppositions and plausibility structures. We begin with Paul and then move to a distraught father.

³ As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. ⁴ Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” ⁶ So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” Acts 9:3–6 (NKJV)

²³ Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:23–24 (NKJV)

Paul believed that in persecuting the Christians he was doing God a favour when in fact his presupposition, what he held to be true, was the opposite of reality. He was even daily praying to the one he was persecuting! This is an example of someone believing something to be true that was in fact false. The belief system Paul was persecuting was in fact the solution, not the problem he believed it to be. The distraught father held that it was plausible for healing to take place, he just needed to see it happen for his son to shift from the plausible to the actual.

In both cases a worldview shift took place. Personally, I have gone through many over the years. I believe that is because of two factors. One, I have pursued truth and understanding in and of the scriptures. Two, I am open to being wrong. I used to tell my staff at work to feel free to challenge my thinking because I had no illusion that I was right all the time. Many did and collectively it led to better decisions. Yet, this wasn’t always the case, when I was younger, I used to believe that there was the way I did things then a number of wrong ways!

The shift for me was a combination of life experience and reflection. Which brings us to how we shift our worldviews. Paul didn’t recognize that his worldview was wrong until confronted by a reality he was denying. Yet had he reflected and studied the scriptures with an open rather than an angry heart (Acts 9:1-2) he may not have needed to be confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus, he could have had the same experience as the Bereans he later shared the gospel with.

¹⁰ Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. ¹² Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. Acts 17:10–12 (NKJV)

If we want to align our worldview with the view of scripture, which should be what we all desire, then we need to take the time and reflect on what the scriptures teach. For my worldview book I developed a Worldview Assessment Tool with a rating scale so we could do just that. I won’t reproduce all of it here, however the questions below are a useful tool for our own reflection and assessment. I introduced the idea with a couple of reflective questions followed by a statement of faith and some further questions to assess how we practice and live out our worldview. I encourage you to set aside a bit of time and go through this process. If you find that you need to better align your worldview with scripture, I encourage you to put forth the effort to do so. Keep in mind that part of your worldview is the presuppositions you hold (for example, do you believe the scriptures are your guide for faith and practice?) and your plausibility structures (do you believe it is possible to live by scriptural values?) that affect your choices. We begin here with two reflective questions.

Have we chosen our worldview and values or absorbed them?
Are we drinking from the cup of the Lord or the cup of our culture?

Below is a generic Evangelical Statement of Faith from the National Association of Evangelicals.

National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) Statement of Faith

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.[i]

Reflective Questions regarding the NAE statement that can be used by an individual or discussed in a group.

1) Do you believe these statements to be true?

2) If you answered yes, is there a gap between your beliefs and behaviour compared to one or more of the statements in the Statement of Faith?

3) If there is a gap, do you want to close this gap?

4) If you answered yes to 3

A) What do you need to let go of and leave behind?

B) What steps do you need to take?

C) What will it look like when you have succeeded?

Take some time and reflect, imagine the gap has been closed, now list the steps you took to close it.

[i] https://www.nae.net/statement-of-faith/ Accessed February 29, 2020

Hope Resurrected

As we celebrate Resurrection Sunday let’s us turn to the scriptures in hope. In doing so I first want to reflect on the crucifixion. Obviously, there would have been no resurrection without Jesus sacrificial death. His body died that day on the cross. He was the sacrificial lamb on our behalf (1 Peter 1:17-21, Revelation 13:8). However, a number of other things died as well. The hopes and dreams of His followers died. Whether that was ruling and reigning with Jesus over Rome, or as in the case of Mary, simply being with Him, those hopes perished. We will come back to this.

Now, while we generally turn to the gospels for the resurrection, I am looking at Romans. It is in the letters of the New Testament that we see the impact of the resurrection. Paul made some interesting statements that highlight this fact.

²² And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” ²³ Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, ²⁴ but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. Romans 4:22–25 (NKJV)

Here is the Greek word that we translate as justification – δικαίωσις dikaiōsis; the act of pronouncing righteous, acquittal: – justification (2).^[1]

The context here is Paul explaining how Abraham was treated as righteous by Yahweh due to his faith. Righteousness was accounted, or put to his account. Paul then says righteousness is charged to our account as well when we embrace Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. He then makes an interesting statement. Jesus was ‘delivered up because of our offenses.’ Here he is referring to the crucifixion. Jesus’ sacrifice was to pay the penalty for our sins. The next statement is even more interesting. Paul says Jesus was ‘raised because of our justification.’ Justification is a legal term and linked to righteousness. We are declared righteous because the Father is legally justified in doing so due to Jesus’ sacrifice. The efficacy of Jesus sacrifice was validated by the resurrection.

This is why earlier in Romans Paul presented the gospel as a revelation of the righteousness of God.

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16–17 (NKJV)

Here is the Greek word that we translate as righteousness – δικαιοσύνη dikaiosunē; from 1342; righteousness, justice: – right (1), righteousness (90).^[2]

The gospel, the good news is that God is in fact just and right in extending salvation to us because of what Jesus accomplished.

Now we come back to other things that have died. In Romans 4 Paul uses Abraham’s faith to point to the crucifixion and resurrection so we need to look at what Abraham believed and then experienced. The context was Abraham and Sarah not having a child. Paul tells us that at this point in their lives the ability to conceive a child had died in both of them. Yet, by faith it was restored, resurrected if you will! As we reflect on that and the impact of Jesus resurrection, I think we need to go beyond the legal aspects of righteousness and justification. I believe we need to be like Abraham and look full in the face of hopes and dreams that have died and then look to the lamb to believe for their resurrection! Paul encourages us to do with these words.

³² He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32 (NKJV)

Let’s look to the Lamb.

Look to the Lamb song

Jesus Culture, Lindy Cofer, Bryan & Katie Torwalt – Look To The Lamb (Official Visualizer) – Bing video

^[1] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).

^[2] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).

A Functioning Body Part 5

In this concluding post I come back to some key verses in Ephesians and Colossians. Paul says in Ephesians that everything will ultimately be summed up in Christ. He lays out the goal of the Father.

⁷ In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace ⁸ which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, ⁹ having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, ¹⁰ that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth – in Him. Ephesians 1:7–10 (NKJV)

Everything in heaven and earth will reach a conclusion in Jesus. Later in the same chapter (verses 16-23) Paul prays for a spirit of wisdom and revelation for believers, praying that our spiritual eyes would be opened to see what our calling is all about and that Jesus is seated in heavenly places far above the spiritual forces we are battling. Paul then informs us that we are seated there with Him.

⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 2:6 (NKJV)

We are to battle from victory, nor for victory.

That we are still in a battle is very evident, as Paul notes in Colossians.

²⁷ To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸ Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily. ¹ For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, ² that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 1:27–2:3 (NKJV)

The ‘them’ in 1:27 is us, the saints. Thematically Paul focuses on both us in Christ and Christ in us, which is what Jesus taught in John 14:20, that He was in the Father and we in Him and He in us. Paul’s battle, his ‘great conflict’ in his prayer, teaching and preaching was to get us to realize these truths and come to maturity, to a full assurance of the reality of that Jesus is both in us and that He is the source of all wisdom and knowledge.

If we as the body of Christ are to function as He designed, we need those called as leaders to draw out the gifts and callings in the rest of the body. We need them to create an environment where these gifts can be expressed and we need to realize the Father’s ultimate intention, to sum up everything in Christ. To accomplish these goals, we need an experiential awareness of two things. First, of Christ in us leading and guiding, second that we are in fact seated with Him in heavenly places, operating from a place of assured victory. If we do these things and do them well, we will be a functioning body.